Sunshine & Saltwater [BxB] COMPLETED

la solitude

"Okay everybody, good work today. Make sure to keep eating a lot of protein for the game this Friday. First game of the season, boys! We have to be in top shape." The soccer team listened to their coach with intent gazes and sharp focus. They all were thinking about Friday, anticipating and thinking over tactics and strategies, getting mentally ready to crush their opponent. Well, all except for Theo.

Theo's mind was on a certain boy with auburn hair and a habit for cursing in Spanish whenever he could.

~

"Hey Ronan, coming?" a voice said. Ronan reluctantly dragged his gaze away from a curly haired boy with coffee brown eyes that was across the room, and turned to look at his best friend, Will.

"Oh...sorry, I actually have stuff to do," Ronan said. It sounded lame, but it's the best he could do. Will raised an eyebrow.

"What stuff?" Will asked curiously. Ronan quickly glanced behind him, but Theo had left the locker room.Will was staring worriedly at Ronan. And for good reason, Ronan hadn't been acting quite like himself. Lately he had been skipping parties and not hanging out with his friends after games. His excuses became centered around grades and homework and scholarships, and those were partly true, but that wasn't really why he started avoiding his friends after school.

"Just...homework, you know...," Ronan said. Will sighed, like he knew Ronan was lying. They had been best friends since they were three, so Ronan wouldn't be surprised if Will could see right through him.

"Sure, man, just give me a shout if you change your mind," Will said, then he left Ronan alone in the locker room, wondering when the last time was that he had to lie to his best friend.

~

Ronan and Theo had been dating for two weeks now. At least, privately dating. Publicly, no one even knew they were friends (too risky, Ronan claimed).

Theo felt ready to come out if Ronan wanted to, but Ronan was more hesitant. Even though Theo told himself it had nothing to do with him, that it was a personal issue Ronan had, Theo couldn't help but feel hurt. And those questions, the biting kind that latch onto you no matter how hard you try to shake them off, the questions that can only disappear when he's wrapped up in Ronan's embrace, plagued him every moment of the day.

Maybe he's embarrassed of you. Maybe he doesn't even like you. Maybe he feels sorry for you, and that's the only reason why he's sticking around.

But then later Ronan would kiss him gently, tenderly, and Theo wouldn't be able to think about anything at all.

Theo never discussed these things with Ronan of course. That would be insensitive. Ronan already had a lot of things to deal with. Like his parents, college (he wanted a scholarship for soccer), and having to hide a secret boyfriend.

But regardless of these issues, Theo was having the time of his life.

He would hang out with Ronan almost every day after practice, and always at Ronan's house. (They used to hang out equally at both of their houses, until one day when Theo's mom was home unexpectedly and drilled Ronan and Theo with so many questions about the "project" they needed to work on that Ronan actually blushed. When they got upstairs to Theo's room, Ronan was so embarrassed and nervous that Theo's mom knew, that they basically sat in silence for a whole two hours until Ronan said he had to go and hurriedly left the room, barely muttering a goodbye.).

After that they always hung out at Ronan's house, and so far it has been a success. True to his word, Ronan's parents were never home, and Theo has yet to meet them.

But anyway, ever since that fate-changing day on the beach, Theo and Ronan spent any spare time together, kissing and talking and everything in between. Theo's friends from school had yet to notice this new behavior, and he wondered when they would start to catch on.